Mobile Gaming Expert

A late goodbye

2008-10-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the deal: I've decided to stop updating the blog.That is probably obvious to those who come here often, but I wanted to make it official.
Even though I still like playing mobile games I've noticed that at some point I've lost my motivation to try the new titles out there. In fact I rarely find a recent mobile game that can keep my attention for more than 5 minutes nowadays.Perhaps it's because I've played way too much java games over the years and most new titles are far from innovative but I see no point in writing countless reviews basically saying "been there, done that". Besides the new 3d graphics just look butt ugly on most occasions.
The big companies decided to keep to the formula of "rediscovering classic game designs" which actually means keeping the truly original content to a minimum.
Over the years the world leader Gameloft, that started as the equivalent of Blizzard (small portfolio of truly great games) became the EA of mobile gaming (giant portfolio of sequels with minor to null improvements).
EA games mobile is quite the same but with even lower production values and Glu mobile seems to have lost its edge after the initial strong start.
Perhaps the problem is in me, but looking back over the last few months I see few decent attempts at originality (all done by small companies)and they all failed miserably due to the lack of marketing prowess.
So I decided it's time to retire from mobile game reviewing. The mobile gaming in its present state simply does not deserve my attention.This is especially true to the java based gaming platform.
I want to thank all the returning visitors for their attention and endurance :) and for staying with this blog through its short life.
Wish you all the best :)

Week#12 - N-gage titles, iPhone games

2008-06-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Not that I was away at any time but nothing really interesting was going on in the mobile game industry. Nokia tried to extort gamers to pay for their N-gage games more than once to play them on different devices. Than someone in their marketing department figured out it was a bad marketing move and they backed down, promising to find a better solution.

In other news some of the biggest players of the mobile game market are still working on a number of iPhone and ipod touch games. It is for the most part a simple (design wise) process and we can soon expect an onslaught of titles for these devices. Don't hold your breath though- the titles I know of are quite a boring selection, so no chances for your iphone to kick the PSP into oblivion (pun intended) as a gaming device.

Week#9

2008-05-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

I've missed the traditional Monday Editorial (sorry about that). The truth is I've recently rediscovered a couple of my old hobbies and I have no time for mobile games.What this basically means is that I'm putting the blog on hold. Kind of. I'm still going to write materials, but I don't really guarantee that they will come frequently. I will however try to keep the editorials on time, so in case something significant happens you'll know about it :)

Have fun!

WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw 2008- The best wrestling game on a mobile?

2008-05-15T04:32:00.001-07:00

What is it: The title pretty much sums it up. Two championships, twelve wrestlers (plus one custom), normal and hardcore matches. It is also the series debut in 3d on a mobile phone.

What looks good: Customization options, Graphics(if you happen to prefer angular and jagged 3d over jagged and pixelized 2d)

What looks bad: Short, some moves are not animated well, repeatable gameplay, hardcore matches suck

Will I review if I can: I'd like to, but I probably won't.

Comments: It is the best mobile wrestling game so far, but sometimes the best is not enough. The customization options and the possibility to create your own wrestler with specific moves are great, but the list of moves is pretty short and the gameplay boils down to the following scenario:
Hit him times times, grab him for a couple of knees in the gut, bulldog, stomp 'im on the ground (power meter is probably full by now if not repeat until full), wait for him to stand up and execute finisher (not really necessary), pin him down.This works every time even on highest difficulty so the game isn't much of a challenge. Then again if you're a real wrestling fan you're probably spend a lot more time with this game than the 20 or so minutes you need to complete it for the first time.

Opera mini 4.1- the best mobile browser has a new version

2008-05-13T04:54:00.000-07:00

This will have to classify as a Quickie:

Name: Opera mini 4.1

What is it: The newest version of the best Internet browser on a mobile phone

What looks good: Faster, easier to use, capabilities to match some desktop browsers

What looks bad: Nothing.Browsing on a small sized screen still sucks but the browser does the best job possible under these conditions.

Will I review if I can: I already did when it was still in beta version. Check it here

Comments: You can pick the appropriate version and download it to your phone or PC from this page

Week#8

2008-05-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

This will be a Quickie week again- I have difficulties finding anything deserving a full review. There are however a couple of promising titles, I've been thinking about lately so I might write something after all.

I'm also thinking about one of those "How to" articles but I'll probably just lazy out of this one.

ASPHALT 3: STREET RULES- the next Gameloft attempt at Need for speed's crown

2008-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Name: Asphalt3:Street rules (aka Asphalt3- N-Gage)

What is it: Urban, arcade style racer, heavily influenced by the Need for speed series. Remake of Asphalt 3: Street Rules 3D with better visuals and some minor extras

What looks good: Visuals

What looks bad: Unoriginal

Will I review if I can: No

Comments: It is a great game if you like the Asphalt series and/or the NFS series on PC and it is probably the best game available for the N-Gage2 platform at the moment. I wouldn't play it myself though-I hate playing games I've worked on, even if it was for the brief period of two weeks or so.

Orcs & Elves II - for your daily RPG fix

2008-05-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is the first "quickie"...

Name:Orcs & Elves II

What is it: FPRPG (First person RPG)

What looks good:Gameplay, fun story, some graphical elements

What looks bad: The rest of he graphics, movement system

Will I review if I can: No

Comments: It could've been a great mobile RPG, but the sluggish movement system and ugly enemy movement/animation, seriously damage the fun factor

Week#7

2008-05-06T22:21:00.001-07:00

Hi guys.After trying and failing to launch the "quickie" category two weeks in a row I decided it will be the only thing to do this week. There might be however another, longer editorial near the end of the week. We'll see about that...

New York Nights 2: Friends For Life- another "buy me for the 5-th time" game

2008-05-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but the way I see things Gameloft is becoming more and more EA-like. They have a number of well selling titles and they do whatever they can to milk every penny out of it. The first New York nights was a good game. It was THE sim game on a mobile (The Sims mobile is nowhere near this title IMO). Miami nights was even better- more options, bigger world etc... and from this moment everything went downhill more or less. The graphics kept evolving (and not always for good I must add) but the gameplay just froze in time and even started regressing. If you've played American Popstar: Road to Celebrity you knows what I mean- the game was so linear and prescripted that it was basically a movie. On top of that there were options in the menu, that were used only once (the time they were actually shown to you) and useless stats- the popularity stat was absolutely redundant past the first stage of the game... Basically the game was so lame I couldn't believe it is so popular between the critics...

The good news is the New York nights 2 is better than that. The bad news is it still sucks. Not that it is bad as such but it doesn't bring anything new on the table (except a new graphic style which frankly is not very impressively implemented). If you've never played a game of the series- it's a great fun, but if you had- well you'll probably get really bored, really fast if you're not some hardcore fan of the Gameloft's sim games (which is really sad considering how poor they've become).

Graphic and sound 7/10

Gameplay 5/10*

Value for money 4/10*

Novelty 2/10*

Total 5/10*

The bottom line - Just another "Nights" game. You can add +2 on marked stats if you're a great fan of the series

Block breaker deluxe 2- the "not as good as it should have been" game

2008-05-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Gameloft pulled out the sequel of their best selling game Block breaker deluxe. I wanted to say many things about this game. I wanted to show you what this game could have been, to give you an inside look and a detailed description why exactly BBD2 is so great of a letdown for me. Sadly I can't, because two and a half years ago I've signed a confidentiality agreement that simply doesn't allow me to. So I won't tell you what this game could have been... I'll tell you what is wrong with it now, without comparing it with anything and sadly- without giving you any of the crispy chunks of inside info... Now on the review:

If you look at other game sites you'll see very positive reviews everywhere. What you won't read is that the game has several major problems gameplay-wise.

I've tried to look at it from different angles but I see only one thing- the game was constructed not from the gameplay point of view but for eye candy and graphics. I know that graphics sell nowadays but I just don't like the result- the game looks great but doesn't play as well as you'd expect.

The main problem is the obvious desire of the team to show as much eye candy as possible in a short amount of time. They don't take the time to teach you about different bonuses, and common good(or very bad) combinations of them -they just throw them at you.

The use of the different type of bricks is an overkill too.They show you pretty much everything from the start, eliminating the interest build up and it seems that every level is moving and has another one hidden under, just waiting for you to hit the switch to appear.

Not only that- the constant moving elements are making the game less casual that it should be. Don't get me wrong- it's not hard, but it's not casual. In fact in some levels it is straight forward frustrating due to the not so good level design.

Is the game bad then- not really. Not at all. But it's not as good as it should've been. In the next months you'll see many positive reviews (the marketing team obviously did their job well, contrary to the dev team) and I bet the game will take a prize or two but for me the end result is frustrating and lacking gameplay innovations, created around visuals instead of gameplay.

Graphic and sound 10/10

Gameplay 6/10*

Value for money 6/10*

Novelty 4/10*

Total 6/10*

The bottom line - BBD2 left me unimpressed by a long shot. However I believe the mass user can safely add +2 on all the marked categories

Week#6

2008-04-28T08:33:00.001-07:00

This time I will be very (and I mean VERY) brief. Expect to see reviews of Block Breaker Deluxe 2 and New York Nights 2. Also expect to finally see the first "quickies" I promised. That's It :)

The Spiderwick chronicles - and old school adventure game on your mobile

2008-04-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

First of all - I haven't watched the Spiderwick movie yet, and I don't know if I ever will - I'm a little out of the age group it's targeted at. So I'm going to tell you about the game as such, not as a work based on the movie.
It seems that after point and click adventure games almost died out on PC, they've found a new life on mobile phones. After the BEAUTIFUL Leisure suit Larry: Love for sail game, that I probably won't get to review because it's almost an year old now, here comes Spiderwick.
The game is an old school adventure where you can change between the three characters you control (Anyone remember Day of the tentacle? Probably not), combine items and do puzzles. It has a half decent graphics and sound (some elements are great but some are not even near it) and is basically aimed for the younger audience as is the movie.
Since it is an adventure game it has a lot of dialogues and that makes it something you probably don't want to play while you're on the bus. It's good for more reader-friendly environments though and you'll probably enjoy it while sitting on the sofa at home if you like this type of games.
The main problem of this title is it's fairly scripted and not always in the good way. Sometimes you feel like playing a hardcore game from the not so distant past, and then suddenly you get a hint, ruining all the suspense. I understand that the younger audience should get some help since they probably weren't even born when this type of games were HOT on PC, but the hint thing... come on, couldn't you just put an option to turn it off in the menu? Other developers got to that idea years ago...
This being said, the game is still a pretty nice adventure, especially if you're a kid, or you just don't like thinking too hard on the puzzles.

Graphic and sound 7/10
Gameplay      6/10
Value for money   6/10
Novelty          8/10
Total          7/10

The bottom line - good for the kids and people that hate thinking too much.

Command and Conquer: Tiberium wars mobile - a Tower defender-ish experience

2008-04-25T23:43:00.000-07:00

When I heard there was a mobile game of the Command and Conquer series I was ready and willing to play. I mean it's C&C after all - how bad could it be? It turned out to be one of those not so rare moments when you get the answer of this unasked question and you don't like it.
The graphics are far from spectacular. Not bad, but not really good either and the Sound gets from love to hate in about 2 minutes' time. And that's not a good thing, believe me :) And while I'm on the topic intro "cinematic" are far to long, considering the actual length of the gameplay - the mission briefing can be as lengthy as the mission itself.
Now the gameplay is divided basically into two parts. The first - the "building phase" is when you build your base. This is turn-based in a way, since you're not on a time limit or anything but you're restricted by your available money, which get replenished after a mission.
The second phase of the game is the action phase where you command your forces in real time to defend your base and/or sweep the enemy.
The problem with this concept is that you're unable to repair your buildings or even call for reinforcements when you're in the action phase, which makes the game less that it could have been gameplay-wise especially when the buildings are so fragile that even one soldier can destroy them in less than a minute.

Graphic and sound 7/10
Gameplay      6/10
Value for money   6/10
Novelty          6/10
Total          6/10

The bottom line: C&C: TW is a playable game but it's not something EA mobile should be proud of. Considering its PC predecessors the game is even more of a letdown.

KO legends - the real Sci-fi boxing simulator?

2008-04-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the time you started doing something sure it's not worth it, and a few minutes into the process you thought you were wrong only to find out you WEREN'T wrong after all... This is how I felt with Gameloft's KO Legends(also known as KO fighters)
When I started the game I was under impression it will be another audio/visually dominating but somewhat unoriginal game, because let's face it - Gameloft have a serious problem with original content these days. And I was right - the game has "borrowed" half of the content from one of the last Rocky games (I believe the name was Rocky Legacy). I was happy with it for a time though because the Gameloft game had some additional depth to the mechanics and the customization options almost made me feel like I'm playing something different than heavily scripted, arcade beat 'em up game. Everything was fine until I actually won the world title and the bonus content become available. Then I was all: "WTF GAMELOFT?! WTF!!!" I don't want to insult anyone but the idea of fighting in ALIEN tournaments after that is so stupid it's braindead. It actually threw away all the psychological attachment created with personification options and all the serious stuff in the game. Or maybe the problem is in me, I don't know but in my book world title boxing and aliens don't mix.

Graphic and sound 9/10
Gameplay      9/10
Value for money   5/10*
Novelty          5/10
Total          7/10*

The bottom line - The alien stuff in a boxing game made me feel like I've had one too many hit in the head. If you have no problem with it put +3 on value/ +2 Total

If you're still interested you can check out the video I've found on Youtube:

It is widescreen but it will give you an idea of the game.

Week#5

2008-04-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Editorial day. Again.

Some of you, who are interested in mobile gaming have probably noticed by now I'm not reviewing every game out there and might be wondering why. There are two main reasons:

The first one is the game potential I see in a title. I try to read about and play as many games as possible, but some of them seem to lack something vital. Sometimes it's evident from the game title itself. Sometimes I have to see a screenshot or two, or play the game a little, but when I do I just know that this game is not worth any serious attention. Those are the games I usually don't review- I respect my free time too much to write about every misguided attempt at java gaming.

The second best reason for a game to be skipped for a review is availability or to be precise - UNavailability. I couldn't acquire some titles in any legal way so they don't get a review. Those games have the chance to get a review some day if I get my hands on a copy.

The third reason (yeah, I know I said there are only two but sometimes 2=3:) is I simply don't have the time to review everything on the market so I'm basically trying to stick to the games that really impressed me in some way, good or bad.

To address what I see as a problem here I decided to put in another category on the blog and call it "Quickie". No, not talking about sex. The idea is to write in just a couple of words what I like or dislike about a game and whether or not I consider it worthy for a review if I get the opportunity. I know most people would call this a preview, but I don't think this is correct considering the fact that a review is unlikely to follow on most of those games. Besides I like "quickie" better :)

So starting some time this week I'll be giving you short(shorter than the reviews that is) overviews of the new games. There might be a blog category reorganization too, but it might come in later. We'll see about that.

Now for the weekly schedule:

Ko legends

Command and Conquer: Tiberium wars mobile

The Spiderwick chronicles

A surprise review is always possible so keep an eye on the blog :)

Opera mini- the best mobile browser out there

2008-04-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I've reviewed for you the best instant message app for your mobile phone. That's right- Jimm.

This week I'm giving you a short review of the second best application in my opinion - Opera mini.

All mobile phones have some form of rudimentary Internet browser with functionality limited to the utmost necessities. To say it another way- the preinstalled browsers suck! So here comes the Opera mini - the near perfect reincarnation of the desktop Opera browser for your mobile.

Why nearly perfect? Well, mostly because browsing on a 2" display and without a QWERTY keyboard sucks big time.

The browser however is as good as possible . It has the ability to sync with your PC,view pages in landscape mode,and auto resize the Internet pages for your meager mobile screen which makes it not only blazingly fast, but also compresses the pages, resulting in less traffic through your overprized GPRS. It also has power scrolling shortcuts and the possibility to create custom shortcuts , plus a dynamic resize function giving you the chance to zoom in and out flawlessly to see only the details you care about...

If you're not impressed by all this perhaps you can try the last beta version 4.1 which gives you a load of new, useful features to help you browse even faster, upload and download files, search on page and so on. I can write a lot about it, but it's much easier to redirect you to the site where you can download it and read some more on the topic...

So check out http://www.operamini.com/ for the browser overview, http://www.operamini.com/download/ for the browser download and http://www.operamini.com/beta/ for the latest Beta. You won't regret it :)
The bottom line is: Opera mini is the preferred mobile browser of this game designer and I personally recommend it to anyone who has the intention to use his phone for Internet browsing!

God of war: Betrayal

2008-04-18T02:18:00.000-07:00

With GoW: Chains of Olympus hitting PSP it's a good time to remember the one and sadly only God of war mobile game so far. Namely the God of war: Betrayal - an action platformer game (somewhat similar to The witcher- Crimson trail) that saw the light of the day some time in the second half of the last year. The game had great graphics and sound and was visually as god of war-ly as possible - you had digital intestines and gushing blood all over the screen of your mobile. In fact the game mechanics worked so well that Gameloft obviously borrowed some of them (namely the finishing moves) in their so called hit Beowulf :)
Cutting through a number of opponents and bosses can get a little tedious at times, but the action is intensive enough so that you don't feel real boredom. Besides, if you're not a console gamer this will be the closest you'll get to the God of war series, so I wouldn't really miss the chance.

Graphic and sound 8/10
Gameplay      9/10
Value for money   8/10
Novelty          7/10
Total          8/10

The bottom line - a step away from real greatness, the game deserves attention as the only God of War game on mobile phone.

The Simpsons: Minutes to meltdown - 30 minutes to disaster

2008-04-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

I love the Simpsons. So when few months ago I saw that EA have a game with my favorite cartoon characters I couldn't skip the opportunity to play the game and review it. The hardest thing about it was objectivity - let's face it: every true fan will love the game just for the opportunity to play with Homer and hear his "Doh" a couple of times...
So the story is simple - our all favorite idiot will have to stop an explosion at the nuclear powerplant he is working at and save all the little houses and people in virtual Springfield from total annihilation. The only problem is that Homer has to get to the powerplant first...
The audio/visual level of the game is good - you won't see anything spectacular, but the characters are nice and true to the original... I really like the idea of the picture dialogues and we have Spiderpig which is always a plus in my book.
Sadly, the gameplay is quite unremarkable - it has traveled in time and stopped somewhere in the era of the 8 bit computers. Not only that but the concept of a real time game - both in real life and in game you have 30 minutes to prevent disaster - although somewhat original, sucks! No replay value is something I can live with but half an hour of gameplay (and the game can be completed for half of that) is not my idea of a good bang for the bucks.

Graphic and sound 7/10
Gameplay      5/10
Value for money   1/10
Novelty          5/10
Total          5/10

The bottom line - Disastrously short . If you're a fan of the series though you might find an excuse to buy this game.

Week #4 - schedule and display resolutions

2008-04-14T04:36:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been with this blog for a while know that Mondays are traditionally the time for the so called Editorial and it is basically when I tell you what to expect during the week. So here it is:

The Simpsons: Minutes to meltdown- a mobile game loosely based on my favorite TV series.

God of war: Betrayal- the one and only reincarnation of Kratos on the mobile platform.

Opera mini- THE Internet browser for your mobile phone.

I also have a surprise review reserved for the end of the week . Or not.

Now that we cleared this out I want to say a few words concerning games and screen resolution on a mobile phone.

I've often read on mobile forums complaints like "How can you call this game beautiful- on my phone it looks nothing like the pictures" or "Why I don't have (put your favorite game feature here) on my phone". The obvious answer is that not all phones have equal capabilities and mobile game developers make several versions of the game so it can run on a maximum number of handsets. The thing is if you have some of the less capable phones the game will look nothing like advertised - it will be basically a different game with the same name. It is a common knowledge and I always took it for granted that people are well aware of that but questions like this made me want to shed some light on the topic.
It goes without saying that reviewers write their articles on the best looking version or in the worst case scenario - the second best. Those are actually the 240x320 (primary master) and 176x220 (the best of secondary masters) resolution versions and if you're under that you're basically f@cked - lower resolutions are not only cut down feature-wise bit they might (and will) have different level design, number of levels and so on. They are even likely to be made by different people (and sometimes in a different country altogether) than the Primary master. So basically you get what you've paid for with a little twist. You have a phone more than 2 years old or a really cheap new one - you don't get to play the best games... well, you get to play games with the same names, but they are not necessarily half that good.

To all the Nokia fan boys out there- I have some news for you too. Nokia phones are not the preferred platform for master versions. I won't go into details why (not in this editorial that is) but it's a fact, so if you have serious intentions on java gaming you'd better look at the Sony Ericsson's phones . Just a little friendly advice. I don't get paid to sell them so I don't really care whether you're gonna take it or leave it...

Last but not least I want to thank all my returning visitors out there (all four of them or so) for reading through another editorial. Thanks for the support , guys :)

Jimm

2008-04-11T06:46:00.001-07:00

Ok I will be brief with this. If you can have just one java application on your mobile it's probably Jimm. You might have heard about this nice little app but if you're still reading about it, chances are you haven't, so I'm gonna tell you what it is- it is a java instant messenger mobile or simply put ICQ on your mobile phone. So why would you want to have ICQ on your phone? I dunno. Maybe you've always wanted a smartphone, but you don't have it for some reason. Maybe you want a cheap messaging service or maybe you just love to chat with your pals. Whatever the reason Jimm is a nice ICQ client that uses your GPRS or UTMS connection (although I've tested only the GPRS). If you have a MIDP 2.0 phone (which is most phones out there nowadays) you get status icons, smileys, history, the chance to send and receive files, monitor your traffic and use proxy servers. Not bad for a free product. Did I mention it has a multilingual support? Well it does!
The official version on the site is a little out of date but if you look closely you can find a new build on one of the other pages on that address. To save you the trouble- The address with the last official version is http://www.Jimm.org and the last build can be found on http://www.jimm.org/nightly.php .Either this or you could download it using WAP http://wap.jimm.org/.

Warriors of Fate - arcade classic brought back to life on your mobile

2008-04-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

Breakpoint did it again - one of my favorite arcade classics hit mobile phone screen. The game in question is Capcom's Warriors of fate and is the best beat 'em up game out there. Granted the game has lost some of the shine it had back in the old arcade days (you've got only 3 characters to chose from and a couple of levels less) but this is the best arcade to mobile ports I've ever seen. All the special moves are there and the pleasure of beating the crap out of the swarming enemy soldiers is comparable to the original.

The graphics and sound are quite decent although they don't exactly shine. They are true to the original however and the gameplay although not too long timewise can bolster some replay value since it's so fun to beat down the enemy army one man at a time (or a dozen if you wish), that you'll probably end up going through the game more than once. To help you in this task you have horses and weapons among other things but you'll probably end up NOT using those in the end - the mobile game similar to its arcade predecessor is all about hand-to-hand pounding combat...

Graphic and sound 7/10
Gameplay      10/10
Value for money   10/10
Novelty          Remake
Total          9/10

The bottom line - a great arcade port. The only reason NOT to like it is if you hated the original WOF game back in the early 90s.

Blades and magic- a cliched mobile RPG with some class

2008-04-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

The first thing you're going to notice when you play start Blades and Magic is probably the graphic. The game developers proudly acclaim the use of the Abyss graphical engine, which quite honestly meant nothing to me. My only assumption when I heard about it was that the game will be 3D - and it happened to be correct. In fact I can say the game is by far the best looking 3D java game on a mobile phone. This being said I still believe that it would've looked better in plain old 2D, especially especially considering the jar size but hey 3D is always nice. Besides we already know it's the future of mobile gaming, right?
Anyway. The game looks quite decent and sounds similarly well.
The interface is great and I'm a little jealous I didn't come with it in some of the projects I've worked on. Then again I never really got the chance to make an RPG, so I probably couldn't have used it anyway...
The hybrid battle system (it's basically turn based with a time limit) works much better than I expected.In fact it's almost perfect and IMO it's just what Gothic 3 the beginning was missing.
Sadly Blades and Magic is not even half as good as it should have been.It is far too linear and badly scripted to be anywhere near perfection. The marketing claim of a "huge world" is grossly overstated- the map is really big, but you're limited to a really small part of it in each chapter and you can't move back to areas from previous chapters.Not only that but there are cases when you might die without even making a mistake, just because someone, somewhere miscalculated the odds of that happening. The characters look like they've been forcefully pulled out of the Warcraft universe and the side quests are there just because someone (probably the same "miscalculator" from the last sentence) decided there should be some of them. So no matter what you might have read about the title- it's not the Holy Grail of mobile gaming...
Even with all the shortcomings I've mentioned above the game plays quite nice, if you can cope with the total lack of freedom associated with playing RPG games and the mediocre attempt at a story. The skill and magic system are decent and the fights are challenging which will guarantee at lest some fun but does the game deserve the gold medal award it was given by my colleagues at Pocket gamer? Not by a long shot!
Graphic and sound 10/10
Gameplay      5/10
Value for money   6/10
Novelty         9/10
Total          7/10
The bottom line- Blades and magic is a game you should probably take a look at.It has some inexplicable charm to it and although I wouldn't go so far as saying it is "recommended" it is a nice try in the RPG genre nevertheless.

Week 3 - N-Gage and stuff

2008-04-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Third week as a blogger so it's time for my weekly editorial.

Nokia's N-Gage platform is finally up and running (since some time last week) and everyone is trying to convince you it is the next big thing , but is it really that big? No matter what the marketing divisions say N-gage capable phone are not handheld consoles. They are weaker than Nintendo DS and it is by far the weakest handheld console out there, so if you're expecting incredible graphics- think again and think hard... N-gage games look better than normal java games and apps available today, but they are far from PSP quality. I should know- I've seen about half of the available games being created and I've even worked on one of them briefly, although my role was not really crucial for the development and you won't see me in the credit section. Anyway what I was trying to say is I've seen N-Gage games, I've played them and I've even made 'em and in my opinion they're not something that great at the moment- the title selection is limited and the phones running the platform cost way too much to be worth it. I'd take a cheapo phone and a PSP over them any day. Then again if you're going to get a N-series phone anyway, or you were a fan of the original N-Gage phone you'll probably be ecstatic...

Now that being said it's time to give you the list of games (and apps.) I'll review for you this week:

Blades and magic- the game left over from the last week plan.

Warriors of Fate - arcade classic brought back to life on your mobile.

Jimm- the one java app you should have.

...and that's the plan boys and girls. I might add another quick review or editorial if something really thrilling suddenly happens on a mobile gaming scene but other than that I will stick to the plan above

Have a nice week

The Witcher: Crimson trail - the late /early review

2008-04-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

Reading back through my reviews I discovered that so far I've covered mostly Gameloft games, and even though this is normal, considering that this is the number one mobile game developer worldwide I decided I owe something to the other developers. So I give you the The Witcher – Crimson Trail by a company named Breakpoint.
This review is either too late, or a little bit early. Too late, because the game is now more than 3 months old which makes it old news. Early, because The Witcher Enhanced Edition - the long awaited update/fix/expansion of the best PC RPG of the last year (The witcher) is round the corner a month and a half or two away... So I believe it's not too late for the review of the Wiedzmin: Krwawy Szlak as is the original title of the mobile game...
The mobile version of The Witcher is not an RPG, but an action-driven platformer with RPG elements. The game is as true to the name as possible in this situation and you'll have at your disposal two swords, some potions and magic. You don't have different fighting styles, but you have pretty nice attack combos to take away the pain and deliver some serious damage.
The problem is the game mechanics become repetitive a little too fast and jumping around with sword in hand can become a little tedious, especially when you miss a jump near the end of the level and have to start all over again. Another thing that just isn't implemented good enough is the idea of actions- consequences. One time in a game use is just not enough...
Despite all these problems the game is still a solid platform jumper with some nice ideas so if you need something to quench your Witcher thirst before The Witcher Enhanced Edition hits the shelves you should consider the mobile game.

Graphic and sound 8/10
Gameplay      6/10
Value for money   5/10
Novelty          7/10
Total          7/10

The bottom line - not as good as it was supposed to be but playable if you're a bored Witcher fanatic.

Panzer general mobile - the game that no-one really saw

2008-04-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

You've got to give it to Gameloft - they do have strict politics for making games available only in certain regions. First it was Fatal bazooka and Tokyo nights, then - Panzer general. Those marketing decisions don't make sense to me for the most part, since the last two games would have been accepted well worldwide, but I don't pretend to be a marketing expert, even though I have a Master's degree in Marketing.
Anyway. Let's talk about Panzer general. The game rides the name of the successful turn-based strategy series and delivers a decent action-oriented turn-based experience. This time, however, you don't control armies, but units - the battle is on much smaller scale.
You have the chance to pick a side in the conflict (you'll have the chance to play with 2 or 3 selectable fractions depending on your phone) and go through series of missions with different objectives, each mission being a battle for some country on the map. In this endeavor you have to use the terrain and covers like walls and houses to get an edge over the enemy.
The game packs beautiful visuals, decent sound and great although somewhat short and linear gameplay. It even has multiplayer, giving you the chance to kick your friends' ass on different maps and in different game modes.
I can go on telling you about damage modifiers, special attacks and the option to garrison some units in buildings but I won't. If you're a fan of WW2 games and/or you like to blow stuff on the screen of your mobile - that's the game for you. Definitely. Don't be surprised, however, if the game happens to be unavailable in your country.

Graphic and sound 9/10
Gameplay      10/10
Value for money   7/10*
Novelty          7/10
Total          8/10*

The bottom line - a good but somewhat short game. If multiplayer is your thing you should probably put +2 on value and +1 on total

Battle for the White House - It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a crappy game!

2008-04-02T00:53:00.000-07:00

Are you a fan of mini games? Gameloft obviously think you are and you like them so much you're willing to buy the same game more than once if it has a different set of graphics, so they deliver to you Battle for the White House - a Fatal bazooka remake, put together in a hurry to cash out on the election hysteria in the USA.
Is the game worth your attention - hell no! The mini games are as fun as a kick in the face and as original as a $2 Rolex but if you're one of those people who think a little political incorrectness always makes a game great you're gonna love it.
For me personally, the game is a total miss - it is the ugliest attempt to cash out on a hot topic I've ever seen and I would've been professionally ashamed if my name was associated with it.

Graphic and sound 5/10
Gameplay      3/10
Value for money   1/10
Novelty          1/10
Total          3/10

The bottom line - you're either gonna love it, or (more likely) hate it. I chose the latter and I'm sticking with it :)

Another week - another editorial

2008-03-31T01:59:00.000-07:00

The last week was hard for this little blog- still not indexed by Google and tormented by constant Blogger bugs.Even now the poor thing looks different, depending on the browser you use and it took me a couple of days and a million tries to get things look normal at least on the majority of browsers.

But anyway- It's the beginning of a new week so I decided to put in a few lines, just to let my regular visitors (all two of them) know what I'm planning to review in the next couple of days.Expect to see reviews of the following titles:

Battle for the White House - a crappy Gameloft game- something that's rare enough to review
Panzer general mobile - Gameloft's the most underestimated title of last year
The Witcher - Crimson trail- the mobile reincarnation of The Witcher
Blades and magic - innovative but linear RPG from Fish labs games(you might or might not get that one depending on the time I have to play the title)

That's it. I hope you have fun, reading the reviews :)

Midnight bowling 2 - Gameloft trying for a strike, gets bedpost

2008-03-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

First of all I've never played bowling (except on a mobile phone that is) so I obviously have no clue whether or not the game is representative for the emotions you feel while playing.Then again I believe those emotions should be different than frustration and boredom which is exactly what I felt playing Gameloft's latest creation.
"Why or why were you bored, you mighty game reviewer", you may ask. I'll tell you why.
First of all I should say the game looks as good graphically as you'll expect from the Gameloft game. It has all the bells and whistles like pseudo 3D and such, which makes me think they're using again a modified Asphalt engine. Or not. I'm not really sure what they are using those days anymore. Whatever it is the game looks great.
It has two basic problems however- stupidity and steep learning curve (combined with inconsistent game difficulty). Let's translate this into English:
First of all - someone lied to the guys from the creation team that all professional bowling players are sexy girls. Either that or there is a really huge amount of unused sexual energy in the team, which is probably OK, considering the male/female ratio in the game industry. Whatever the reason the game looks like someone somewhere said: "You know what makes a game great- GIRLS! Lets put some in" And guys- "putting girls in" doesn't always make a game great- believe me.
Second- the learning curve and difficulty. It's not normal to require better scores to be allowed to participate in a tournament than in the actual event. This stupidity makes the game a roller coaster of difficulties and in my opinion greatly damages the gameplay.
Other than that the game has some value in it and it gives a decent overall experience- the aforementioned nice graphics and sound, decent reward system and solid gameplay if you can somehow put aside the problems I told you about. I couldn't.

Graphic and sound 10/10
Gameplay 5/10
Value for money 7/10
Novelty 7/10
Total 7/10

The bottom line - Recommended? Not really but bowling fans will probably enjoy it anyway.

Gothic 3: The beginning - the best mobile RPG ever?

2008-03-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

In one word: " Maybe"...
OK, that might not sound very convincing but the game has some potential,even compared to last year's RPG terminator Might and Magic 2.The only place I find it really lacking is the graphics department- no visual feedback when changing weapon and armor and a very limited (and I mean VERY) amount of NPC models/avatars- you'll have to imagine you're speaking with a woman even though the picture beside the dialogue is definitely male. Either that or gay marriage have suddenly become very popular...

The quick slots are not as "quick" as I hoped and it's highly unlikely to write home about the dialogs spoiled by the bad translation, but even all that considered the game is great.
Gothic 3 mobile is slightly less linear, has a better story and better side quests (read "not so straight forward to complete") than MM2. In my opinion, it also has a better fantasy setting, but you're allowed to disagree with that if you want :)
Whatever your opinion on the topic is, the fact that the mobile game is a prequel to the PC series makes it a must play for the fans of the series and I dare say it is highly recommended for all other RPG fans too.
It's a nearly perfect conversion of the character building system from the previous parts and you get to see your favorite armor (10 types) and weapons (28 base types) and use them on well-known enemies from the PC version.That's not all- you gain levels, learn spells and fight the baddies on randomly generated maps- all that on the palm of your hand.Oh and did I mentioned you get to play with Xardas... Priceless!
Keep in mind though that Gothic 3: The beginning is more of a sofa-at-home game than a bus stop one. If you decide to play while you are waiting for your transport to arrive you're at risk of missing it and going late to work OR having to think of an excuse to stay at home. I advise the latter :)

Graphic and sound 7/10
Gameplay               9/10
Value for money   10/10
Novelty                  8/10
Total                      9/10

The bottom line - A must have for every RPG fan. Keeping me awake for two nights in a row is quite an achievement :)

Prince of Persia Classic - Gameloft's march back in time

2008-03-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

There are games and then there are GAMES. I know you have probably heard by now that Gameloft had made a mobile version of the undying PC classic Prince of Persia (and gave it the not so creative "Prince of Persia Classic" title). That's right, boys and girls - the remake of the first part of the series and a mighty fine one if I might add.

If you don't remember the 80's game on PC it's alright. In a way.Suffice to say this title not only revolutionized the gaming as we knew it back then but was one of the titles that CREATED IT. Now when you've geared up on essential knowledge- read the rest :)
I won't get into great detail - you can read a thorough review on Pocket gamer and I don't really see why I should write a long review, when there is one I can easily agree with.
However, I will tell you the following - even though I'm often accused of being a little too picky when it comes to game features and design there is nothing (or at least nothing major) I would change in this game if I were the one making it. With great graphics and controls, sliding on the edge of perfection, unlockable game modes and a list of achievements to complete the title have some lasting appeal and I dare say it's one hell of a game altogether. And yes - I do feel like I'm playing Mario every time I pick a coin in the game, but the classy Classic mode (pardon my unsuccessful joke attempt) becomes available soon enough, and from this moment on it's old time goodness all the way.

Graphic and sound 9/10
Gameplay 9/10
Value for money 9/10
Novelty Remake
Total 9/10

The bottom line - Highly recommended. A great mobile game.

Diamond Twister - just another deja-vu

2008-03-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

When I first saw Gameloft's Diamond twister I thought: "OK, I'm not writing a review on THAT". However I recently discovered that my colleagues at Pocket gamer have already done that, so I decided to take a look and write a few lines about it.
The one thing that you won't see in their review is the fact that the game is a blatant remake of Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest - another Gameloft's bestseller from the last year. The new version has admittedly better graphics and a different story, although I'm still searching for someone who actually cares what the story behind your diamond matching activities is...
Does this make it a bad game - hell no! It looks as good as it is humanly possible and has a nice casualness to it while it stays quite addictive for a long time. The only problem I can really name is the developer's desire to sell games lacking creativity - putting a better graphics and a new story line in a game is not my idea of a new game.
Then again Gameloft is THE number one mobile games company saleswise so I guess it doesn't really matter if they sell one game under five different names :)

Graphic and sound 9/10
Gameplay               9/10
Value for money    9/10
Novelty                  2/10
Total                      7/10

The bottom line - Great if you want to play Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest with shinier graphics.

Real Soccer 2008 - a severe identity crisis

2008-03-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

If you go to the site of the mobile game developer Gameloft you will see that one of their most heavily marketed games has a severe case of identity crisis - in the menu the game is called Real Football 2008, while on the banner it proudly carries the alias Real Soccer 2008. Being born in a part of the world where soccer is indeed called football I have no problem with that, however this might not be the case for all the potential customers.But let's go to the review.
The game is supposed to give you full 3D graphics (although depending on your handset you might end up with a 2D version), more than 200 unique teams, high quality digitalized sound and the opportunity to participate in the 2008 European Nations Cup with all the regular teams.
What it really gives you is a fifa-esque experience. If you've played more than one game from EA games PC series you know what I mean - the game's main difference from its predecessor is the graphic style, which in that case went from cartoony to pseudo realistic. If you're one of the lucky guys whose mobile phone can support the 3D version, you'll have the chance to play a slightly less edgy version than the last edition. The game still looks better in 2D though, thus confirming once more that 3D graphics in mobile games are still more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. The "realistic" colors of both versions make things a little too dull IMO, not to mention a few really ugly visual elements that are sub-Gameloft quality standards in every way.

   2D V/S 3D

Other than that, you have at your disposal double the teams from the last edition and a better sound, although the audio of a mobile game was never of prime importance - how often do you get to play a mobile game with the sound on?
The gameplay is the same as in the previous editions and you'll see nothing really different in the menus except the order of the items. No innovative minigames or anything...

Graphics   8/10
Sound     10/10
Gameplay 8/10
Novelty    3/10
Total        7/10

The bottom line: Real Soccer 2008 is a decent but not really great game. It falls short of being the greatest sports game on a mobile but it will be interesting to the fans of the series.

Supermodel Empire - challenge the inner designer in you

2008-03-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm a little behind schedule, but it's inevitable when you start something new. Supermodel empire is just too notable to leave it without review, even though it's not really a "new" game anymore.
When I first heard of the game I expected it would be something like Nightclub Empire and Rock City Empire , which were basically one single game with two different graphic sets. So I was surprised when the game actually happened to be something different.
If I have to describe it in one sentence only than it's "Diamond quest meets Playboy the mansion (without the nudity)". If I have to add something to this description than I must add: The game looks nothing like the afore-mentioned...
So what exactly is Supermodel empire then? It is a simple, yet Sim/Strategy type game, that gives you the chance to take the role of a fashion designer and build up your fame and money, delivering collections corresponding to the trends. It sounds hard but it's actually a simple process of research (minigame that shows you parts of the attire the people look for) and creation - a process where you basically try to compose apparel, based on the info you've got from the research phase.The end result is dependent on your assistants and the model used, plus your accuracy in the photo shoot phase, but that's pretty much the basics.

How the game actually manages to be fun is a mystery, but it IS FUN, and this game designer and critic was quite surprised to find he have spent quite a few hours playing it. This being said, the game is a safe bet for all the girls out there too - I believe the non-violent gameplay and the fashion designer's premise will appeal to the less bearded and more feminine side of the humanity. Not only that but I'll be very hard pressed to think of another game, based on similar conception, so the game receives my compliments on the originality front :)

Graphic and sound 7/10
Gameplay 9/10
Value for money 9/10
Novelty 10/10
Total 10/10

The bottom line - Surprisingly recommended

The beginning

2008-03-24T11:47:00.001-07:00

Every beginning is hard and here I am at a beginning - the beginning of this blog. As you can see the design and the content are still in a real early stage of development, so I guess I can call it my ALPHA blog. Hopefully we will go through BETA and there will be a GOLD version in a few months but felt eager to start as soon as possible so for the moment you're stuck with this lifeless white template personalized only by a few fast drawings proving my not so great artistic talents...

The idea was to start the blog with the reviews of the newest games but I soon discovered this meant to leave behind some of the best titles created for mobile phones just because they were 3-6 months old. So I decided to put the line back in time somewhere around that moment and move up to more recent additions. In addition to that I decided to put in accidental entries about mobile phones, mobile apps and other mobile entertainment related stuff. The main focus of the blog remains unchanged as stated in "The mission" but those things are related with mobile gaming and I believe they deserve a little attention, besides you can always skip those entries :)
Anyway - have a nice time on the blog.